19th Apr 2008
Driver’s Safety Films: Safety Through Seat Belts
Safety Through Seat Belts was University of California Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering. A lot of the film concentrates on the fascinating, innovative research into automobile collisions that was being done by the UC engineers. But, it’s also got flying crash test dummies and photographs of accident victims to reinforce the point that seat belts are a very good idea. And also a few stock footage shots of jets flying in formation to emphasize… um… something about safety?
Why the “new technologies” tag, you might ask? Seat belts. They weren’t really new in 1959, but they weren’t required by law in most places yet; it was still something of a luxury item. Watching the dummies get hurled around due to a 30 mph collision is actually a pretty good motivator to buckle up. But then again, I’ve never understood why some people won’t. (I had somebody tell me once they didn’t use a seatbelt because the government required it, and they took an ethical stand against that sort of meddling in a citizen’s personal life. Hope that works out for you when you’re flying through your windshield…)
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